CFP: The 3rd Johns Hopkins University Graduate Philosophy Conference

The debate between realism and antirealism is ubiquitous in contemporary philosophy. From the philosophy of science to metaethics and everywhere in between the debate is front and center. There are a number of ways that the debate takes shape, but principally it concerns questions of the existence of some set of entities or the veracity of a set of propositions in scientific, mathematical, or philosophical theories. Realists affirm the existence or veracity; antirealists deny it. Is the external-world mind-independent? Should the propositions of our scientific theories be taken as approximately true, or simply instrumental? Do the unobservable entities posited by our scientific theories exist? Do mathematical entities exist? Are there moral facts? Do other minds exist? Are there such things as beliefs and desires? Is there such a thing as space or time? Do properties or abstract objects exist? Is there such a thing as truth? Is our understanding of sentence a result of its truth-value? Is there such a thing as mind-independent meaning? Are there human rights? Finally, how might realism or antirealism in one area of philosophy inform realism or antirealism in another? We welcome high-quality papers that address questions such as these (and many more) in any area of philosophy in which a realism/antirealism debate is present. Submissions of papers on subjects outside of the topic will be accepted, but preference will be given to those that relate to realism/antirealism.

Papers should be no longer than 3000 words and prepared for a 25-30 min presentation. Submissions should be made to [email protected] by June 15, 2018. Submitters should also include a separate document indicating their departmental affiliation and their status in the department. This conference is for graduate students only, and as such no undergraduate submissions will be accepted.